5 –23 October
Celebrating Anton Chekhov's 150th Birthday, Caroline Blakiston performs her play at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Black Bread and Cucumber is Caroline Blakiston's acclaimed one-woman show about how she made history as the first British actress to play Chekhov in Russia, in Russian! Black Bread and Cucumber was written during 1992-3, following Caroline Blakiston’s unique experience playing Charlotta in The Cherry Orchard in Russia. She was the first English actress to play Chekhov in Russia in Russian.

The Russkiy Mir Foundation in collaboration with Academia Rossica is launching a programme of grants for literary translation from Russian into English. This programme aims to promote Russian literature internationally and facilitate cultural and intellectual links between Russia and the English-speaking world. We invite publishers and translators to apply for funding to translate works from Russian into English. We are particularly keen to support projects that aim to bring original literary projects and works by contemporary Russian writers to a wider English audience. On the whole, priority is given to translation of contemporary fiction and poetry; literary non-fiction titles and new translations of classics may also be eligible if they are exceptional in terms of literary value. The scheme supports only translations from the original Russian text.

4th Russian Film Festival, 29 October – 7 November Dear Friends! The Russian Film Festival is getting ready to present London with this year's best premieres in Russian cinema. The Main Programme As always, the main festival programme showcases the best Russian films, award-winners at major international and Russian film festivals. These films include, 'Silent Souls' (Ovsyanki), directed by Alexei Fedorchenko and winner of three prizes at the Venice Film Festival, 'How I Ended This Summer' by Alexei Popogrebsky, awarded prizes for best actor and best cinematography at the Berlinale, 'One War' by Vera Glagoleva, Grand Prix winner at Sofia International Film Festival and Russia's nomination for the Oscars and Svetlana Proscurina's latest film 'The Truce', winner of the main prize at Kinotavr. As in previous years, guests include directors, producers and actors who come to London specially to present their films at the festival. Documentaries – 'Noughties Art' This year's documentary programme sums up the last decade with screenings of the ten best Russian documentary films, one for each year. The programme is presented by the great director and documentary maker, Vitaly Mansky, president of the ArtDocFest. Animation Alongside the main programme and documentaries, we have also put together a comprehensive and diverse programme of animation. As part of our festival 'Astral dogs Belka and Strelka' take a trip to outer space captained by director Inna Evlannikova, while Irina Evteeva, famous for her graceful and original style, brings 'Little Tragedies' to the screen. These films will capture the hearts of adults and childen alike. As well as an extensive programme of full length animation, we will be screening a special programme for our young audiences, presenting the best of award-winning Russian animated films of recent years Special Screenings This year's film festival also includes a retrospective of the great actor and director Sergei Bondarchuk's films and the works of Leo Tolstoy on film, as well as a retrospective of masters of Soviet and Russian animation. Venue For the fourth year in a row the Russian Film Festival will take place at the Apollo Piccadilly, one of London's best cinemas.

On 19 – 25 April ACADEMIA ROSSICA will bring you SLOVO, the Russian Literature Festival that knows no boundaries. Packed with a kaleidoscope of genre-defying events, SLOVO will offer a unique insight into Russian literary culture, presenting not only the foremost contemporary Russian writers and highly opinionated public figures, such as Dmitry Bykov, Sergei Lukyanenko, Olga Slavnikova, Maria Galina and Vladimir Sharov, but also cutting edge young writers and poets from right across Russia’s eleven time zones. This year’s festival sees a particular focus on fantasy and magical realism. Lukyanenko’s 'Night Watch' series clearly comes under this genre, but ‘Living Souls’ by Dmitry Bykov,‘2017’ by Olga Slavnikova and ‘Iramifications’ by Maria Galina, all newly published in English, have also been influenced by this notable undercurrent of Russian writing. Our authors will present their new books in light of this genre, which has its roots in the 19th and 20th century literary greats, Gogol, Bulgakov, Zamyatin and Platonov, while Lev Danilkin, literary critic and ‘Afisha’ columnist will explore why Russian literature has a tendency to look at reality through a prism of the unreal. In addition to events with established authors, SLOVO will introduce Russia’s newest literary voices. Olga Slavnikova, herself an award-winning writer, is the coordinator of Russia’s prestigious Debut prize for young writers and will present six Debut prize winners at this year’s festival, including three of Russian literature’s rising stars, Polina Klyukina from Perm, Alisa Ganieva from Dagestan and Alexander Gritsenko from Astrakhan. Key to this festival is the belief that literature can act as an instrument of social and political change and can help to bring two cultures together. For this reason SLOVO will coincide with the London Book Fair, where ties between the Russian and British publishing industry have already been strengthened by naming Russia Guest of Honour and Market Focus of the London Book Fair 2011. SLOVO will continue in this spirit with unique collaborative events between Russian and British poets, as well as providing numerous opportunities for cross-cultural discussions. Indeed, as the slogan ‘WORDS IN ACTION’ may suggest, SLOVO is not just about the written word. Film also plays an important part in this year’s festival. SLOVO will hold the first ever screening of Russian underground video poetry in the UK and the London premiere of Aliona Van der Horst’s hauntingly beautiful film on poet Boris Ryzhy. SLOVO’s broad spectrum of events will be held across several venues, Waterstones Piccadilly, Waterstones Hampstead, The Calvert 22 Gallery and the Apollo cinema. Come and join us for this un-missable chance to witness literature in transition!

3rd RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL 30 October – 8 November 2009 Apollo Piccadilly, London T: 0871 220 6000 Academia Rossica is proud to present 10 UK premieres of award-winning Russian films produced in. All films with English subtitles. Programme director: Andrey Plakhov, President of FIPRESCI. The festival opens on 30 October with a new adaptation of Anna Karenina by one of Russia’s most defiant film directors, Sergei Soloviev. The film took 14 years to make and it is part of Soloviev’s trilogy ASSA (1987) – ASSA-2 (2009) – Anna Karenina (2009). Full programme of the Festival:

IV Фестиваль Российского кино в Лондоне, 25 октября – 7 ноября Дорогие друзья! Фестиваль Российского кино вновь готовится представить Лондону лучшие премьеры российскиго кинематографа этого года. Основная программа Основную программу Фестиваля составят лучшие российские фильмы – призеры крупнейших международных и российских кинофестивалей. Среди них такие фильмы, как «Овсянки» Александра Федорченко, ставший призером Венецианского кинофестиваля, «Как я провел этим летом» Алексея Попогребского, получивший на Берлинском фестивале призы «за лучшее исполнение мужской роли» и «за выдающийся вклад в киноискусство», фильм Веры Глаголевой «Одна война», удостоившийся главной награды международного фестиваля “София Фильм Фест” и номинирующийся от России на премию «Оскар», фильм-победитель фестиваля «Кинотавр» «Перемирие» Светланы Проскуриной. Как всегда мы ждем в гости режиссеров, продюсеров и актеров, которые приедут в Лондоне представить свои фильмы на Фестивале. Документальное кино – «Нулевые Арт» Программа документального кино в этом году подведет итог прошедшего десятилетия показом десяти лучших фильмов российской документалистики, по одному из каждого года. Представит программу выдающийся режиссер-документалист, президент фестиваля «АртДокФест», Виталий Манский. Анимация Помимо программы художественного и документального кино, мы готовим большую и разнообразную анимационную программу. В рамках нашего Фестиваля «Звездные собаки Белка и Стрелка» слетают в космос под руководством режиссера Инны Евланниковой, а Ирина Евтеева, известная своей изящной оригинальной техникой, разыграет на экране «Маленькие трагедии». Эти фильмы будут интересны как детям, так и взрослым. Помимо насыщенной программы полнометражной анимации, специально для юных зрителей мы подготовили программу, которая представит лучшие мультипликационные фильмы последних лет, ставшие победителями российских и международных анимационных фестивалей. Специальные показы В рамках Фестиваля пройдут ретроспективные показы фильмов выдающегося актера и режиссера Сергея Бондарчука и экранизаций произведений Льва Толстого, а также ретроспективные показы мастеров советской и российской анимации. Место проведения Четвертый год подряд показ программы Фестиваля пройдет в одном из лучших кинотеатров «Apollo», расположенном в самом центре Лондона, на Piccadilly Circus.

SLOVO Russian Literature Festival 19 - 25 April 2010 London and other UK cities Russian Literature Week is back for the third time, held in the same week as the London Book Fair. The aim is to highlight Russian writers and publishers, both in London and on an international scale. This year's SLOVO will also showcase the new generation of writers, exciting new poets and the fascinating culture scene of today's Russia.

3rd RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL 30 October – 8 November 2009 Apollo Piccadilly, London T: 0871 220 6000 Academia Rossica is proud to present 10 UK premieres of award-winning Russian films produced in. All films with English subtitles. Programme director: Andrey Plakhov, President of FIPRESCI. The festival opens on 30 October with a new adaptation of Anna Karenina by one of Russia’s most defiant film directors, Sergei Soloviev. The film took 14 years to make and it is part of Soloviev’s trilogy ASSA (1987) – ASSA-2 (2009) – Anna Karenina (2009). Full programme of the Festival: